Safety-check



J. KOFFEND, Sn.

SAFETY CHECK.

APPLICATION FILED IAN-28, 191.9.

Patented Aug. 16, 1921.

3 SHEETSSHEET I.

; r E Z- autumn ROE N0miv CLA65 N 11- 2 PAY TO THE onnm or APPLETON,WIS, l8l6 DOLLARS To THE BANK a? 4 g 3 I Q APPLETON wli P V M I NoiiL R 0E I RICHA D R CLAss N pm TO THE 0mm: 0? AP LeToN,w|.s. {M /.9/8 i V Donna g m {I} Asmara" ,Ww.

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Nomi- JOHN HOE CLAaS N PAY TO THE cause a: APPLETON,Wl6. ?M l3/8 T nma THE BAN-K QN APPLETON Wm.

JOHN DOE CLA55 NLtiai PAY T9 THEORDER 0F APPLET0N,w|5, E?% /8/8 'DOLLARS.

TO THE BANK Per g {Ifi- APPLE-row Wns. L/

I wuemib J. KOFFEND, SR.

SAFETY CHECK.

APPLICATION FILED lAN.28v 19x9.

1,388,049. Patented Aug. 16, 1921.

Y J; 5 3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

JOHN DOE No. 11212 I CLASS NELiZ-i- PAY TO THE ORDER OF APPLETON, w'a, 9/

DoLLARs TOTHE BANK p fi i g f APPLEro|u,W4s., L L

JOHN DOE N01111: v CLASS N 9;.1Zi PAY TO THE owner? DF AbPLeTou,w|s., Q J; /s/@ Jinn/m5 To THE BANK e l/m fl/ .4

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RICHARD ROE No.ma

CLASS N -8 PAYTO THE ORDER OF APPLETON, WIS. 3/5- oums, 4

BANK d4 W 1 APFLETON, W15, f

RICHARD no: Nam. CLA65 N 6312i PAY TO THE ORDER OF npnuomwns a/a DOLLARS.

To THE BANK 41$ APnu-omwas,

Per M UNITED STATES JOSEPH KOFFEND, SB, OF APPLETQN, WISCONSIN.

SAFETYCHECK.

Application filed. January 28, 1919.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Josnrrr KOFFEND, S1'., a citizen of the United States, residing at Appleton, in the county of Outagamie and State of Wisconsin, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Safety- Cliecks; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to improvements in means for detecting forgery of checks and other negotiable instruments.

An important object of the invention is to provide checks with peculiar identification marks which will enable the teller at a bank to quickly ascertain if the, check is genuine.

A further object of the invention is to provide a method of identifying checks, which is simple, easy to remember, and desirable in use.

Other objects and advantages of the in vention will be apparent during the course of the following description. 7

In the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification, and inv which is shown a practical embodiment of my in vention,

Figure 1 shows a pair of checks illustrating one example of the application of the identifying means,

Fig. 2 is also a view of a pair of checks illustrating another example of the application of the invention,

Fig. 3 is also a view of a pair of checks illustrating still another example of the application of theinvention,

Fig. lis a further adaptation of'the invention, and

Fig. 5 is a detail view of the key to the system.

In the practice ofmy improved check identifying system, the names of the deposi-r tors in a bank are divided into a number of classes, which in this particular case'includes 11 classes. The depositors in each class are supplied with their respective class number. The class number of each depositor is preferably placed on the check directly beneath the check number, if the arrangement of the printed matter on the check permits If it is not practicable or permissible to place the class number beneath the check number, the same may be placed in any Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Aug. 16, 1921- Serial No. 273,511.

desirable suitably conspicuous place, on the face of the check.

In addition to being supplied with a class number, which may be common to a number of depositors, each depositor is also supplied witha guard number. The guard number may be changed from time to time for the purpose of eluding the forgers. In cases where the guard number is under one thousand, the last two figures of the guard number are placed directly behind the class number. The first figure of the guard number is placed in the left hand corner of the diamond at the lower left hand corner of the check.

As illustrated in Figs. 1 to 4 inclusive,

each theck is provided with a diamond in its lower left hand corner. Each diamond is divided off into two sections. In cases where the guard number is over a thousand, the first two figures of the guard number are placed in the left hand section of the diamondon each of the several checks. In cases where the guard number happens to be over ten thousand, the first two figures of the guard number are placed in the left hand section of the diamond and the remain ing three figures of the number are j placed directly behind the class number. I

As a further protective measure, guard i'nonths'may also be applied to the checks. In cases where a month is to be designated as a guard element, an arbitrary number of months may be agreed upon as the month to be designated on the check. This month may be either before or after the date of the check, thus if it is agreed to employ a month The month is designated by the first letter of the month, namely, M. The capitalletter designating the month is employed only when the month agreed upon is formed of the date of the check. When the month agreed upon is passed the date of the check, the initial of the month may be applied to the check in small letters. The month guard may be applied to the right hand section of the diamond.

If so desired, the sections allotted to the guard number and guard month may be reversed as an additional protective measure from time to time. When protective months are employed, the months having the same first letter may be numbered in the order of their occurrence. For instance, January may be designatecVJ 1. June may be designated J2 and July may be designated J 3.

In Fig. l is illustrated the application of the invention, wherein the class number is shown to be 11. The guard number is shown to be 839. The figure 3 is shown in the left hand section of the diamond on the check and the remaining two figures, namely, 3 and 9 are applied to the check directly behind the class number. In the first check of Fig. 1, the month is shown to be March and is in advance of the date of the check.

To indicate that the letter M designates the first of the months of the year beginning with this letter, the numeral 1 is placed in the diamond to the right of the letter.

As indicated in the description of Fig. 1, the fact that the guard month is in advance of the date of the check is indicated by the capital letter 1 In the second check illustrated in Fig. 2, the same class and guard numbers are employed. Instead of employing a month six months in advance of the date of the check, the month six months passed the date of the check is employed, namely, May. The month of May is indicated by the small letter m having the numeral 2 therebehind. The numeral 2 indicates that the letter m stands for the second month of the year commencing with M. 1

In Fig. 2, the class number is shown-to be number 4: and the guard number, 7593.

As illustrated in Fig. 3, class number 9 is seen to be the class assigned to this particular depositor. The guard number as signed to this particular depositor is seen to be 19,375. The figures 1 and 9 are shown in the left hand section of the diamond at the lower left hand corner of the check. The remaining three figures are shown to be applied to the check directly behind the class number. The month is shown to be January in advance of the date of the check. The month of January is indicated by the fact that the numeral 1 is placed behind the lettcr J. The fact that the guard month is in advanceof the date of the check is indi cated by the fact that the month is indicated by a small j. In the lower check of Fig.

3, the same class number and guard number is assigned. The month guard, however, is shown to be March in the rear of the date of the check. This is indicated by the small letter m and the numeral 1.

In Fig. 4 the several checks are shown to bear the class number 6 and the guard number 97,999. In the case of the two checks illustrated. in Fig. 4, the guard month is shown applied to the left hand section of the diamonds. The first two figures of the guard number are shown applied tn the right hand section of the diamond in the place formerly occupied by the guard month. In the left hand section of the upper diamond, the month is shown to be April in advance of the check. The fact that the month is April and in advance of the date of the check is indi ated by the large letter A and the numeral 1 therebehind. In the second check illustrated in Fig. 4;, the small letter d indicates that the month of December is selected as the guard month. The month of December is in the rear of the date of the check as evidenced by the small letter d.

In the practical embodiment of my invention, it is not desirable to employ guard numbers lower than 111. Odd figures are preferably used for the guard numbers.

While I have shown and described the preferred embodiment of my invention, it is understood that such other arbitrary keynumbers may be employed as will remain within the spirit of the invention and the scope of the appended claim.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is A negotiable paper bearing a number indicative of the class of the maker and having a guard number, part of which is associated with the class number and part of which is differently located on the face of the paper, and a time character in conjunctive relation with the part of the guard number remotely situated from the class number. I I

In testimony whereof I all'lix my signature in presenceof two witnesses.

JOSEPH KOFFEND, SR.

Witnesses JOHN Bor'rnNsnK, FRED N. JANicENoM. 

